22 J THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA. 



idea than the Japanese havo for their notion that 

 it serves as an antidote to the bite of serpents. 



Side by side with the legends, often of terrible 

 import, to which the sea and its inhabitants have 

 given birtli, we meet with others of a ludicrous 

 character. Such is the belief, wliich prevails in 

 the North of Europe, that the Anatifera concha 

 engenders the barnacle-goose. The barnacle, as all 

 the world knows, attaches itself to rocks, the shells 

 of oysters, and other testacea — to any solid body 

 floating in the water, especially to the hulls of 

 ships, and to submarine telegraphic cables. 



The protecting envelope of this animal is com- 

 posed of five distinct parts. Through two opposite 

 openings the antei ..a3 or tentacles pass out ; they 

 are very supple, and covered with filaments; from 

 another part protrudes the foot, which is analogous, 

 in its external aspect, to the branch of a polypier. 

 By this the creature fixes itself to solid bodies. In 

 the midst of the tentacles is a kind of trunk, in 

 which is a thin tongue, rolled into a spiral form, and 

 of a deep colour. The trunk or trumpet-like 

 process is transparent, and formed of a series of 

 i-ings, diminishing in diameter from the base to the 

 other extremity. The tentacles serve as a kind ol 

 net for seizing prey. 



When the barnacle is taken from the water, it 



